With the important decision to further sanction Russia in effect, Swatch Group announced an immediate ban on exporting its brands’ products to Russia.
As the war between Ukraine and Russia continues, Russian forces have maintained their offensive deployments after two rounds of talks, deploying different forces in recent days to invade key towns in eastern, southern, and northern Ukraine. Seeing the blatant attacks by Russian forces, the EU has announced sanctions against Russia and its president, Putin, including the most influential global banking and financial telecommunications association (SWIFT), to express strong condemnation of their war crimes.
Affected by multiple sanctions in recent days, the Russian economy is currently facing severe damage. Therefore, there are reports that a group of Russian oligarchs or wealthy businessmen plan to purchase large quantities of luxury goods such as watches, jewelry, yachts, or virtual currency in the near future to offset the severe depreciation of the ruble due to sanctions.
According to reports, one of the three major watch groups today, Swatch Group AG, has taken the lead in imposing sanctions on Russia, ordering all brands under the group to immediately stop exporting any goods to Russia, including Putin’s favorite BLANCPAIN watch. According to a statement issued by Swatch Group AG, the group has decided to suspend its exports to Russia immediately due to the ongoing severe situation. However, the statement also mentioned that the group’s Russian subsidiaries and local stores will continue to operate, temporarily not affecting sales.
Sanctions against the Russian economy, especially after several major Russian banks were removed from the SWIFT system by the EU, have severely impacted cash flows both domestically and internationally in Russia. The ruble has plummeted nearly 30% against the US dollar, and the fortunes of Russian oligarchs have evaporated significantly in just a few days. Following Swatch Group AG’s order to halt exports, no further comments have been made on that decision, and spokespersons for other watch groups such as Richemont, LVMH, Rolex, and Hermès have temporarily declined to comment on whether they will follow suit.
Witnessing Ukraine being ravaged by war on a daily basis, may the war come to an end soon, and may peace prevail.
資料及圖片來源：reuters
